John McKinney thought his pistol was gone until the ATF called him in 2015

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Updated: 5:39 PM EST Nov 7, 2017

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WEBVTT SPEECHLESS.REPORTER: THIS PISTOL IS MORETHAN 80 YEARS OLD, ITS STORYSTRETCHING ALL THE WAY FROMFREEPORT, PENNSYLVANIA OVER TOBELGIUM TO A CRIME SCENE INBELTS HOVER, AND THEN DOWN HERETO VENICE, FLORIDA.AT 91 McTELLS ME HE'S NOT SUREEXACTLY HOW MUCH TIME HE HASLEFT.HIS THREE BROTHERS HAVE ALLPASSED AWAY, AND LAST FEBRUARYHE LOST HIS WIF LOIS AFTERSEVEN DECADES OF MARRIAGE.>> SHE NEVER ANSWERS ME BUT ITALK TO HER.ALWAYS DID.WE ALWAYS WERE TOGETHER.REPORTER: THEY MARRIED FROM JACKCAME HOME FROM WAR BACK TOFREEPORT, PENNSYLVANIA.TODAY HE LIVES IN FLORIDA WITHHIS DOG CALLIE.BACK THEN HE WAS STAFF SERGEANT%MONEY MELVIN MCKINNEY.>> I DROPPED THE BOMBS.THEY CALLED ME A BOMB ABOUTDEAR.REPORTER: I SERVED IN THE MIGHTY8th AIR FORCE FLYING 36MISSIONS IN A B-17 BOMBER ACROSSEUROPE AEU DURING WORLD WAR II.HE WON THE AIR MEDAL FOR HISACHIEVEMENT IN FLIGHT.ONE CONSTANT A PISTOL HIS MOTHERTOLD HIM TO KEEP STRAPPED UNDERHIS JACKET AND OVER HIS HEART.>> SHE SAID YOU BETTER GETTINGTO.I BOUGHT THAT, MAYBE $20 I DON'TKNOW.IT WAS CHEAP.AND I WORE IT EVER SINCE.REPORTER: IT WAS A .45 CALIBERGUN THAT MIGHT HAVE SAVED HISLIFE.YOU GOT HIT AND IT WAS ON YOURCHEST WHEN IT GOT HIT?YEAH IT HIT ME -- WENT THROUGHMY ARM RIGHT HERE.REPORTER: WOW.>> SEE THAT WHITE MARKSOMEWHERE, THERE IT IS, THERE ITIS.AND COME OUT THERE.REPORTER: SOME 30 YEARS LATER A1971 VACATION TO HAWAII WAS THEFIRST FLIGHT MCKINNEY EVER TOOKWITHOUT HIS PISTOL WHICH HE LEFTIN THE TRUNK.WHEN JACK AND LOIS RETURNED TOPITTSBURGH.>> MY CAR WASN'T THERE.[LAUGHTER]REPORTER: THE CAR AND EVERYTHINGINSIDE WAS STOLEN, INCLUDING THEGUN.POLICE WERE LESS THANOPTIMISTIC.>> AND THEY SAID, FORGET ITYOU'LL NEVER SEE IT.REPORTER: YEARS WENT BY, DECADESCAME AND WENT, JACK AND LOISMOVED TO FLORIDA AND BUILT AHOME.THE PISTOL WAS ABOUT THE LASTTHING ON HIS MIND.AT LEAST UNTIL 44 YEARS LATER IN2015, THAT'S WHEN JACK GOT ASURPRISE PHONE CALL FROM THEBUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCOFIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES.THEY HAD FOUND HIS PISTOL AT ACRIME SCENE IN PITTSBURGH.WHAT WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOUGOT THAT PHONE CALL FROM THE ATFIN.>> FELL OVER.I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS.I TOLD THEM I SAID THAT IS ALONGTIME AGO.AND HE SAYS, WELL IT'S YOURS,IT'S REGISTERED TO YOU.REPORTER: IMAY 21st, 2015WHEN FEDERAL SEARCH AND ARRESTWARRANTS WERE SERVED HERE ATTHIS HOME.THEY MADE SEVERAL ARRESTS,FINDING SEVERAL HUNDREDS STAMPBAGS OF HEROIN AND THOUSANDS OFDOLLARS IN CASH.IT WAS OUTSIDE THE HOME HERE INTHE BRUSH WHERE THEY WOULD FINDTHE PISTOL THAT WOULD LATER BEIDENTIFIED AS JOHN MCKINNEYS.>> WE WERE ABLE TO LINK ITDIRECTLY TO HIM.REPORTER: HOW MANY TIMES HAS THEATF PITTSBURGH RETURNED A WORLDWAR II ERA GUN TO A COMBATVETERAN?I CAN'T REALLY RECALL A TIMEWHEN WE'VE DONE THAT.REPORTER: AT LEAST NOT UNTILNOW.IT DIDN'T HAPPEN RIGHT AWAY.ALMOST TWO YEARS AFTER THAT 2015PHONE PHONE CALL FROM THE AFFMCKINLEY DIDN'T HAVE HIS GUNBACK.IT WAS CONSIDERED EVIDENCE,PARTS OF THE THE PROSECUTION'SCASE.MCKINLEY MAILED PITTSBURGH'SACTION NEWS 4 A LETTER ASKINGFOR HELP.THE GUN WAS DELIVERED TO HISHELP FOUR WEEKS AFTER WE CALLEDTHE ATF ABOUT THE CASE.>> THE AFF HAD IT DELIVEREDRIGHT HERE.I THOUGHT THAT WAS PRETTY NICEOF THEM.WHEN WE HEARD WE WERE GOING TOGO TO TV ON IT, BINGO YOU GOT ITRIGHT AWAY, OKAY.[LAUGHTER]REPORTER: THE PISTOL THATPROTECTED JACK'S HEART IS NOWBACK IN HIS HANDS.>> IT'S BEEN A GOOD PISTOL.REPORTER: JACK BELIEVES THIS ISWHAT LOIS WOULD HAVE WANTED.>> WHEN SHE WAS HERE SHE HELPEDME.SHE SAYS YOU GET THAT, THATBELONGS TO YOU, BECAUSE ICARRIED IT FOR 36 MISSIONS: IT'S BEEN A LONGTIME.REPORTER: WHILE MR. MCKINNEY ISTOLD THIS IS QUITE THECOLLECTOR'S ITEM HE SAYS HE HASNO PLANS TO SELL IT, ALTHOUGH HE

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WWII Vet's Stolen Gun Found at Pittsburgh Crime Scene After 44 Years

John McKinney thought his pistol was gone until the ATF called him in 2015

Jack McKinney mailed a manila envelope full of paperwork to Pittsburgh's Action News 4 in August. The 91-year old man was desperate for help. McKinney explained that his precious pistol was stolen decades ago and still missing. He wanted WTAE-TV's help to get it back. It was the beginning of a three-month journey for WTAE and reporter Beau Berman that would include a sit-down interview with an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and a one-day whirlwind trip down to Florida and back to Pittsburgh. It turned out the gun had gone from McKinney's hands while in Europe, back to Freeport, Pennsylvania, and then into the hands of criminals for years. McKinney told Berman he's not sure how much time he has left these days. His three brothers are all gone and his beloved wife Lois died in February after seven decades of marriage. The couple were sweethearts since they were 11 years old back in Freeport and married when Jack returned from war. He said Lois was the love of his life. "She never answers me, but I talk to her. Always did. We always were together," McKinneysaid. Jack lives alone now with his dog Callie near Sarasota, Florida. During the war, he'd been known as Sgt. John Melvin McKinney. McKinney served in the Mighty 8th Air Force, flying 36 missions in a B-17 bomber. Sometimes he was the tail gunner and sometimes he piloted. He won the air medal for his achievements in flight. "I dropped the bombs. I was … ha, ha … you might call me a bombardier," McKinneysaid. The one constant? The pistol he purchased upon the advice of his older brother and his mother. "She said you better get something, so I bought that. Maybe $20s. I don't know. It was cheap and I wore it ever since," McKinney said. His mother told him to keep the pistol strapped under his jacket and over his heart. It was a .45-caliber 1911 model "Auto Ordnance" brand pistol made in West Hurley, New York, and it might have saved his life. "So it was on your chest when it got hit?" Berman asked. "Yeah it hit me and went through my arm right here. The white mark is somewhere. There it is… and it come out there," McKinney said. Some 30 years later, a 1971 trip to Hawaii was the first flight McKinney ever took without his pistol, which he left in the trunk of his car. They were there to visit their daughter following the birth of their first grandchild. But part of this mission bombed. When Jack and Lois returned to the Greater Pittsburgh Airport, their car and everything inside it, including the gun, was gone. Police officers were less than optimistic. "They said 'Forget it. You'll never see it.'" McKinney said. He took their advice for the most part. Years went by. Decades came and went. Jack and Lois moved to Venice, Florida where they built a home. More grandchildren were born. The pistol, was the last thing on his mind. At least until 44 years later in 2015. That's when he received a surprise phone call from the ATF. His pistol had been found at a crime scene in Pittsburgh. "What were you thinking when you get that phone call from the ATF?" Berman asked. "Fell over. I didn't know what it was. I told them. I said … that's a long time ago and he said, 'Well it's yours.' He said 'It's registered to you,'" McKinney said. It was May 21, 2015, that federal search and arrests were served here at 17 Industry St. in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Beltzhoover. A SWAT team went inside,making several arrests, and finding over 700 stamp bags of heroin and thousands of dollars in cash. It was in brush next to the home, however, where they found the pistol that would later be identified as McKinney's."We were able to link it directly to him," ATF Pittsburgh resident agent in charge, Louis Weiers said. "How many times has the ATF in Pittsburgh returned a World War II-era gun to a combat veteran?" Berman asked. "I can't really recall a time when we've done that," Weiers said. At least not until now. But it didn't happen right away. Almost two years after getting that phone call from the ATF in 2015, by the summer of 2017, McKinney still didn't have his gun back. It was considered evidence and was part of the prosecution's case against the drug dealers (who were later convicted). That's when McKinney mailed Pittsburgh's Action News 4 that letter asking for help. The gun was delivered to his door four weeks after we asked the ATF about the case. Perhaps it was coincidence. Maybe not. That's unclear. "ATF had it delivered right here. So, I thought that was pretty nice of them," McKinney said, speaking to Berman in his Venice, Florida, living room. "When they heard we were going to go to TV on it, bingo, you got it right away. OOOOOK. Ha, ha, ha, ha," McKinney said. The pistol that protected Jack's heart during the war, is now back in his hands. He believes that's what his wife Lois would have wanted. "She helped me. She said 'You get that. It belongs to you.' Because I carried it for 36 missions," McKinney said. While McKinney says he's told the gun is quite the collector's item, worth at least $3,200. But he tells Berman that he has no plans to sell it, although he does plan to go out and fire it at a local shooting range very soon.

PITTSBURGH —

Jack McKinney mailed a manila envelope full of paperwork to Pittsburgh's Action News 4 in August.

The 91-year old man was desperate for help.

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McKinney explained that his precious pistol was stolen decades ago and still missing. He wanted WTAE-TV's help to get it back.

It was the beginning of a three-month journey for WTAE and reporter Beau Berman that would include a sit-down interview with an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and a one-day whirlwind trip down to Florida and back to Pittsburgh.

It turned out the gun had gone from McKinney's hands while in Europe, back to Freeport, Pennsylvania, and then into the hands of criminals for years.

McKinney told Berman he's not sure how much time he has left these days.

His three brothers are all gone and his beloved wife Lois died in February after seven decades of marriage. The couple were sweethearts since they were 11 years old back in Freeport and married when Jack returned from war. He said Lois was the love of his life. "She never answers me, but I talk to her. Always did. We always were together," McKinneysaid.

Jack lives alone now with his dog Callie near Sarasota, Florida.

During the war, he'd been known as Sgt. John Melvin McKinney.

McKinney served in the Mighty 8th Air Force, flying 36 missions in a B-17 bomber. Sometimes he was the tail gunner and sometimes he piloted. He won the air medal for his achievements in flight.

The one constant? The pistol he purchased upon the advice of his older brother and his mother.

"She said you better get something, so I bought that. Maybe $20s. I don't know. It was cheap and I wore it ever since," McKinney said.

His mother told him to keep the pistol strapped under his jacket and over his heart. It was a .45-caliber 1911 model "Auto Ordnance" brand pistol made in West Hurley, New York, and it might have saved his life.

"So it was on your chest when it got hit?" Berman asked.

"Yeah it hit me and went through my arm right here. The white mark is somewhere. There it is… and it come out there," McKinney said.

Some 30 years later, a 1971 trip to Hawaii was the first flight McKinney ever took without his pistol, which he left in the trunk of his car. They were there to visit their daughter following the birth of their first grandchild.

But part of this mission bombed.

When Jack and Lois returned to the Greater Pittsburgh Airport, their car and everything inside it, including the gun, was gone.

Police officers were less than optimistic.

"They said 'Forget it. You'll never see it.'" McKinney said.

He took their advice for the most part. Years went by. Decades came and went. Jack and Lois moved to Venice, Florida where they built a home. More grandchildren were born. The pistol, was the last thing on his mind.

At least until 44 years later in 2015. That's when he received a surprise phone call from the ATF.

His pistol had been found at a crime scene in Pittsburgh.

"What were you thinking when you get that phone call from the ATF?" Berman asked.

"Fell over. I didn't know what it was. I told them. I said … that's a long time ago and he said, 'Well it's yours.' He said 'It's registered to you,'" McKinney said.

It was May 21, 2015, that federal search and arrests were served here at 17 Industry St. in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Beltzhoover. A SWAT team went inside,making several arrests, and finding over 700 stamp bags of heroin and thousands of dollars in cash. It was in brush next to the home, however, where they found the pistol that would later be identified as McKinney's.

"We were able to link it directly to him," ATF Pittsburgh resident agent in charge, Louis Weiers said.

"How many times has the ATF in Pittsburgh returned a World War II-era gun to a combat veteran?" Berman asked.

"I can't really recall a time when we've done that," Weiers said.

At least not until now. But it didn't happen right away.

Almost two years after getting that phone call from the ATF in 2015, by the summer of 2017, McKinney still didn't have his gun back.

It was considered evidence and was part of the prosecution's case against the drug dealers (who were later convicted).

That's when McKinney mailed Pittsburgh's Action News 4 that letter asking for help. The gun was delivered to his door four weeks after we asked the ATF about the case. Perhaps it was coincidence. Maybe not. That's unclear.

"ATF had it delivered right here. So, I thought that was pretty nice of them," McKinney said, speaking to Berman in his Venice, Florida, living room.

"When they heard we were going to go to TV on it, bingo, you got it right away. OOOOOK. Ha, ha, ha, ha," McKinney said.

The pistol that protected Jack's heart during the war, is now back in his hands. He believes that's what his wife Lois would have wanted.

"She helped me. She said 'You get that. It belongs to you.' Because I carried it for 36 missions," McKinney said.

While McKinney says he's told the gun is quite the collector's item, worth at least $3,200.

But he tells Berman that he has no plans to sell it, although he does plan to go out and fire it at a local shooting range very soon.